WATERVILLE -- Actress and producer Virginia Madsen has great praise for small independent theaters like Railroad Square Cinema, which tonight will premiere her movie, "Ripple Effect."

"I just think it's so wonderful when local cinemas care about these films," said Madsen, who stars in and co-produces the film. "It means so much to the filmmakers because it's really not about money -- it's about the art of filmmaking. It's because of the support of local cinemas that we get to show what we have worked so hard to do."

Philippe Caland wrote, directed and also stars in "Ripple Effect," an introspective movie about a fashion designer facing crises in both his marriage and business -- crises he believes are the result of a wrongdoing he committed 15 years earlier.

Caland plays the designer, Amer Atrash; Madsen plays his wife, Sherry, a beautiful, empathetic woman, saddened and disturbed by her husband's seeming inability to make quality time in his hectic life for her and their daughter, Charley, played by Caland's real-life daughter of the same name.

Speaking from her home, which is an hour north of Los Angeles, Madsen said Caland's passion for the project and belief in its premise convinced her to be part of the low-budget film, which also stars Minnie Driver, Forest Whitaker and John Billingsley. A longtime friend of Caland's, Madsen said he is a very charismatic and determined filmmaker.

"I feel that as a friend and as an actor, he's really onto something and he's really unique," she said. "We started talking about making movies and he said, 'I have this idea and do you want to come and produce with me?' and I said, 'Yes, I'm in.' I loved the subject matter.'"

Madsen, 46, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the critically-acclaimed film, "Sideways." She has starred in many other movies, including "Dune," "Fire With Fire," and "Firewall," in which she co-starred with Harrison Ford. She also starred in "A Prairie Home Companion," directed in 2006 by the late Robert Altman, who died that year.

"That was beautiful," Madsen said, of working with Altman. "That was certainly one of the best experiences I've ever had making a movie. He was a unique man and I'd follow that man to the end of the earth. He was an incredible human being and I can't believe I had the opportunity to work with him."

She credits the Oscar nod for her performance in "Sideways," for ushering her into the studio system and netting her the privilege of working with Altman.

"I learned so much from him," she said. "I feel very grateful to just have been in his presence. I think he was kind of like an old soldier. He died with his boots on."

Madsen grew up in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Her mother, Elaine, was a wife and homemaker who later became an Emmy Award-winning director.

"She just was very encouraging of all her children to follow their dreams. I was always so serious about wanting to be an actress. I don't remember ever not wanting that."

Madsen describes herself during that time as very strong-willed and creative -- and her mother recognized her potential.

"She saw that as an asset and really encouraged me to study and to follow that dream," Madsen said. "I'm very blessed to have had her -- to have her as my mother."

Madsen recently finished shooting "I Know a Woman Like That," a documentary she convinced her mother to direct, she said.

"It's about women who are 64 to 94 living vibrant lives at a time when people are telling them to be old," Madsen said. "We have this amazing group of women. Some are celebrities, but most are not."

Among those featured in the documentary are a 94-year-old water skiing champion and an 86-year-old yoga teacher -- and Rita Moreno, who starred in the 1961 film, "West Side Story."

"And Lauren Hutton," Madsen said. "Lauren Hutton is the youngest one, at 64."

Madsen also stars in an independent film with Matthew Broderick and Alan Alda called "Diminished Capacity," which opens July 4.

Much of "Ripple Effect," distributed by Monterey Media, Inc., involves improvisation; Madsen said that generally she is uncomfortable with improv but in this case, it worked.

"When it works -- when you finally get it -- it becomes real and hopefully, something beautiful," she said.

Madsen said she was blown away when she learned that Whitaker and Driver agreed to star in and help produce the film, especially since Caland is not an extremely well-known filmmaker.

"He convinced them both to do it," she said. "I think that actors -- real actors -- always want to work in a creative environment. When it comes down to it, it's not about money and fame and power; we just want to play dress-up. If you can find the right environment, we'll do it for nothing, and we'll experiment."